Raptors/Mavs Trade Hits Snag?

Ajinca Trade Hits Snag: Some problems have surfaced in the Toronto Raptors and Dallas Mavericks' efforts to complete a trade for Alexis Ajinca in order to free up a roster spot in Dallas for the recently-released Peja Stojakovic.

According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com several NBA teams have complained to the league about the Mavericks and Raptors using two separate transactions to trade Stajakovic for Ajinca – illegal under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The quickness in which Dallas was able to secure a commitment from Peja seemed awfully fishy, but Stein reveals that the Mavericks were granted permission by Toronto to talk to Peja's agent after forward Caron Butler went down with an injury because a buyout was said to be inevitable.

In the case that the trade is vetoed by the league Dallas would have to waive a player to make room for Peja, who will officially clear waivers on Monday.

Ultimately this is nothing more than a minor story involving two pretty irrelevant players, but it goes to show just how much of a watchful eye NBA teams have on each other. Following the rules is extremely important because if a transaction of this magnitude is held up then any one could be if the proper steps aren't taken.

This sounds like Charlotte's nightmare all over again. AND sounds really desperate on BC's part. It comes off as unprofessional, as well. If other teams are "complaining", that can make it hard for BC to do business with other teams. Not good.

The NBA Larry O'Brien Trophy's 'Big Decision': "This is hard..(smiling)...but..I've decided to take my talents to North Texas, to join The Dallas Mavericks.

This sounds like Charlotte's nightmare all over again. AND sounds really desperate on BC's part. It comes off as unprofessional, as well. If other teams are "complaining", that can make it hard for BC to do business with other teams. Not good.

This is minor. If it's vetoed life will go on as before unaffected. That's my opinion anyway...

That's funny. I've said here and on a couple of other sites I didn't really understand how Stern would go for this, because it's basically an attempt to circumvent the CBA. I'm surprised I seemed to be the only one to question that.

This sounds like Charlotte's nightmare all over again. AND sounds really desperate on BC's part. It comes off as unprofessional, as well. If other teams are "complaining", that can make it hard for BC to do business with other teams. Not good.

Lmao, BC can not even make a simple trade anymore. MLSE still resigns the guy though(What a joke of an organisation the MLSE is lol).

Lmao, BC can not even make a simple trade anymore. MLSE still resigns the guy though(What a joke of an organisation the MLSE is lol).

The thing is, which GM can we get that WANTS to be here, AND, which GM will be BETTER than BC? Who can sell Canada to quality star players that'll make a difference. No matter who we get, they still have to go thru MLSE, no?

The NBA Larry O'Brien Trophy's 'Big Decision': "This is hard..(smiling)...but..I've decided to take my talents to North Texas, to join The Dallas Mavericks.

Another black eye for the Raptors orgaization. We can't win games. All our free agent signings end up as duds. And now we are seen as devious from the buisness side of things. Great.

Personally I think its funny we are being targeted when you see lots of trades happen when a guy with a huge expiring salary is dealt and every insider in the league speculates how he will be bought out and return to his old time after the 30 day time frame. Amazingly though those deals never seem to be "held up". Maybe its because we dealt with Cuban, Sterns favourite arch enemy.

Another black eye for the Raptors orgaization. We can't win games. All our free agent signings end up as duds. And now we are seen as devious from the buisness side of things. Great.

Personally I think its funny we are being targeted when you see lots of trades happen when a guy with a huge expiring salary is dealt and every insider in the league speculates how he will be bought out and return to his old time after the 30 day time frame. Amazingly though those deals never seem to be "held up". Maybe its because we dealt with Cuban, Sterns favourite arch enemy.

It is too bad this has happened. I agree with the Cuban concerns. I cannot believe they are looking over this deal but the CLE-WSH trade last season that included Z who was quickly bought out and 30 days later was back with CLE got the nod.

When Pavlovic's 10 days are up, they can just sign Peja anyways, waive Ajinca (they were going to pay his contract anyway), Toronto claims him, Toronto keeps $1.4M of TPE, Dallas keeps the 2nd round pick, and re-sign Pavlovic.

The end result is the same.

I don't think Toronto can claim him off waivers because they aren't under the cap and his salary is for more than the minimum (I believe). They would have to wait until he cleared waivers and then he could sign with anyone. Of course, Toronto may be one of the only one's who want to sign him and he may want to sign with Toronto, so this all might be moot.

Also, this way the Raptors don't get that 2nd round pick that everyone wants so dearly.

I don't think Toronto can claim him off waivers because they aren't under the cap and his salary is for more than the minimum (I believe). They would have to wait until he cleared waivers and then he could sign with anyone. Of course, Toronto may be one of the only one's who want to sign him and he may want to sign with Toronto, so this all might be moot.

Also, this way the Raptors don't get that 2nd round pick that everyone wants so dearly.

I'm not up on the waiver rules then. Something I'll have to look at.

What is to stop the Mavs from letting Sasha expire, sign Peja, trade Ajinca/2nd round after Peja signs, re-sign Sasha?

What is to stop the Mavs from letting Sasha expire, sign Peja, trade Ajinca/2nd round after Peja signs, re-sign Sasha?

Would that be allowed?

Yes, they can do that, and that may be what they end up doing. TECHNICALLY, the deal between Dallas and Toronto is legal, but in reality it was done to get around the CBA. Basically, the problem is that the trade was obviously done as a thank you for waiving Peja and something I raised concern about as soon as I read about it. I'm not surprised other teams said something. In the end, though, the Raptors released Peja and he could have signed anywhere he wanted. He decided to sign with Dallas. If Dallas then decides to do the trade, then I don't see the NBA stopping them. When they were done at the same time it looked fishy.

Yes, they can do that, and that may be what they end up doing. TECHNICALLY, the deal between Dallas and Toronto is legal, but in reality it was done to get around the CBA. Basically, the problem is that the trade was obviously done as a thank you for waiving Peja and something I raised concern about as soon as I read about it. I'm not surprised other teams said something. In the end, though, the Raptors released Peja and he could have signed anywhere he wanted. He decided to sign with Dallas. If Dallas then decides to do the trade, then I don't see the NBA stopping them. When they were done at the same time it looked fishy.

You know what else looks fishy, Bosh and Wade about to sign 5 year extensions then backing out and signing 3 year extensions after Lebron decided to do so. Then magically they end up on the same team when their deals all expire.

Or how about Amare coming right out publically and telling Melo while he is still under contract that he wants him in NY.

You know what else looks fishy, Bosh and Wade about to sign 5 year extensions then backing out and signing 3 year extensions after Lebron decided to do so. Then magically they end up on the same team when their deals all expire.

Or how about Amare coming right out publically and telling Melo while he is still under contract that he wants him in NY.

Oddly enough the league hasn't looked into any of these incidences.

Those involve players, not management. The league doesn't want to wade into that because it's a slippery slope and because it's incredibly difficult to navigate. In a league where all the players have friends all over the league it would be impossible for the league to police that sort of thing.

Those involve players, not management. The league doesn't want to wade into that because it's a slippery slope and because it's incredibly difficult to navigate. In a league where all the players have friends all over the league it would be impossible for the league to police that sort of thing.

But I still think EVEN IF they can't ploice it, they need to let the players know its not right.
By extension, whats to stop the Owners/Management from getting the players to 'speak through them' to other players around the league. I agree thats its impossible, and is very murkey waters for the league; but they still need to have an opinion on the matter. Otherwise theres nothing at all to even make them think twice about it.
How do we know Dolan didn't go up to Amare and tell him to go out and let the media know that they wanted Melo in NY. Spread the word. Let MELO know. Because Dolan can't do that, but its still valuable to get the word out to Carmelo. Amare did it. But how do we know there wasn't some shadowy figure in the background coaxing him to do so.
I don't like it. It's really shitty for the fans in Denver. Imagine (if) Wade was openly recruiting Bosh and Lebron (obviously he was)all last season. I'd have to say Wade and Riley would have had a talk about that.

“I was in their (NBA) offices when all this was going down,’’ he said. “I showed them my texts. We have been talking to Toronto about Peja since Caron went down. We called Bryan (Colangelo, the Raptors’ GM) and asked if we could talk to Peja’s agent. We asked if he’d be interested in us if he got bought out and they said yes. So then when the buyout happened, Bryan asked about Alexis and if we’d be willing to trade him if we paid the rest of his salary. So that’s how it happened.’’

Cuban said he’s very optimistic that the deals will go through without issue on Monday.

But I still think EVEN IF they can't ploice it, they need to let the players know its not right.
By extension, whats to stop the Owners/Management from getting the players to 'speak through them' to other players around the league. I agree thats its impossible, and is very murkey waters for the league; but they still need to have an opinion on the matter. Otherwise theres nothing at all to even make them think twice about it.
How do we know Dolan didn't go up to Amare and tell him to go out and let the media know that they wanted Melo in NY. Spread the word. Let MELO know. Because Dolan can't do that, but its still valuable to get the word out to Carmelo. Amare did it. But how do we know there wasn't some shadowy figure in the background coaxing him to do so.
I don't like it. It's really shitty for the fans in Denver. Imagine (if) Wade was openly recruiting Bosh and Lebron (obviously he was)all last season. I'd have to say Wade and Riley would have had a talk about that.

I have a feeling that is something the NBA is going to discuss during the CBA talks. I know the NBA doesn't like it either, but at this point there's not much they can do, and they know it.